GUILDERLAND, NY (NEWS10) – “Well “Cyber Monday” really started with the beginning of e-commerce. It was the day when most people had better internet at the office than then did at home so as soon as they got to work on Monday, they would get all those sales. But now it’s turned into a whole tradition that even starts early”, said Larry Zimbler.

Tis the season before you start logging on to the World Wide Web and clicking away at those Cyber Monday deals.

You’re going to want to take a few steps to make sure you, and your bank accounts are secure.

When you log onto a dot-com, Larry Zimbler of LIberteks in Guilderland said to look for one little letter in the URL.

“When you go to a site you should definitely see “https” on the upper left when you’re doing a purchase or shopping. That’s important because then you have a little bit of a secure tunnel”, said Zimbler.

Zimbler also said to take a few minutes and research the sites you’re shopping on. Ask yourself: Does the product seem authentic? What about the return policy? Is there one?

“So making sure it’s the object that you want, the right model number that’s where I would start”, said Zimbler.

When you get to the checkout part of your online shopping experience, there are a few things you want to keep an eye out for as well. He said make sure the site asks for the three digit code on the back of your debit or credit card.

“I’m more concerned when I go to a website and they don’t ask it. Because that means that they’re not doing the due diligence I want out of a merchant. Unless you really think you’re going back there, I wouldn’t store your credit card information there”, said Zimbler.

Speaking of credit card information…

“Use the same credit card for the series of purchases. Print out your receipts because you shouldn’t expect that you’re going to necessarily going to get the email with the receipt”, said Zimbler.

Stick to sites you know. If one seems fishy, navigate away.

Oh, and parents, make sure you know what cards or accounts your kids have access to so there aren’t any surprise charges.